Social Stratification in an Aging Society with Low Fertility: The Case of Japan (Economy and Social Inclusion)

This edited book empirically discusses stratification in contemporary Japanese society. It is unique for its examination of social inequality in relation to declining fertility and an aging population. Japan is the most aged society in the world: according to the Statistics Bureau of Japan, people who are aged 65 and above comprised 29.1% of the country’s total population in 2021. Meanwhile, the fertility rate has continuously declined since the mid-1970s. Japan experienced a dramatic change in its demographic structure in a short period of time. Such fast change could be a major factor that generated social stratification. In her industrialization, Japan was thought to share a pattern of social stratification similar to that of developed European and North American countries but with a low degree of socio-economic inequality and a high degree of homogeneity. There is no clear support for this description of Japan, although the country does share a pattern and degree of social stratification similar to that observed in Europe and North America. The social stratification theory has been developed in close relationship to the labor market; however, it is necessary to further examine the social stratification of very aged societies in which a substantial number of the population―namely, retired persons―no longer have any ties to the labor market. In this book, the contributors explore the pattern of social stratification at three life stages: young, middle-aged, and elderly. Included are discussions of various aspects of stratification such as education, work, wealth, marriage, family, gender, generation, and social attitudes. Preface Contents About the Editor 1 Introduction 1.1 Background for the Examination of Social Stratification Structure 1.2 Aging Population and Social Inequality in Different Life Stages 1.3 The Structure of the Book References 2 Class Structure, Education, and Social Mobility in Post-war Japan 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Trends in Intergenerational Mobility 2.3 Intergenerational Mobility and Education 2.4 Data, Variables, and Methods 2.5 Trends in Absolute Rates of Intergenerational Class Mobility 2.6 Trends in Relative Mobility (Social Fluidity) in Intergenerational Class Mobility 2.7 Trends in the OED Triangle 2.7.1 Associations Between Class Origin and Education (OE) and Between Education and Class Destination (ED) 2.7.2 Association Between Class Origin and Class Destination (OD) and Education (E) 2.8 Summary and Conclusion References 3 The Changing Marriage Market and Status Homogamy 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Data on Trends in Non-Marriage, Late Marriage, and Opportunities to Meet 3.3 The Effects of Social Background on Homogamy 3.4 The Structure and Trends of Status Homogamy 3.5 Summary and Conclusion References 4 Relative Indices of Educational Attainment and Trend Analysis of Inequality of Educational Opportunity Using the 2015 SSM Survey Data 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Education System and Educational Opportunity in Post-War Japan 4.3 Examining Relative Indices of Educational Attainment 4.4 Data, Variables, and Method 4.5 Features of Each Relative Index of Educational Attainment 4.5.1 Distribution of PSI and Its Changes 4.5.2 Distribution of PR and Its Changes 4.5.3 Distribution of SYS and Its Changes 4.6 Trends in Educational Opportunity Shown by Each Relative Index of Educational Attainment 4.7 Further Simplification and Comparison of Indices Using η2 and γ Coefficients 4.8 Verification with a Generalized Ordered Logit Model 4.9 Conclusion and Issues References 5 Long-Term Trends in Long-Term Employment in Japan 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Historical Trends of the Japanese Labor Market 5.3 Long-Term Changes in Occupational History 5.3.1 Characteristics of Occupational History Data in SSM Surveys 5.3.2 Stability of Occupational History 5.4 Trend of Long-Term Employment 5.4.1 Who Will Become Long-Term Employee? 5.4.2 Changes in Japan’s Corporate Labor Market 5.5 Conclusion References 6 Intragenerational Mobility Between Regular and Non-regular Employment Sectors in Japan: From the Viewpoint of the Theory of Mobility Regime 6.1 Non-Regular Workers in Japan and the Theory of Mobility Regime 6.2 Hypotheses 6.2.1 Hypotheses on Intragenerational Mobility from Regular to Non-regular Employment 6.2.2 Hypotheses on Intragenerational Mobility from Non-regular to Regular Employment 6.3 Data and Methods 6.4 Results 6.4.1 Intragenerational Mobility from the Regular to Non-Regular Employment Sector 6.4.2 Intragenerational Mobility from Non-Regular to Regular Employment Sector 6.5 Conclusions and Discussion References 7 Gap in Attitudes Toward Higher Education Between Graduates and Non-graduates: Growing Educational Disparity in Younger Cohorts 7.1 Emersion of Educational Disparity 7.1.1 Latent Transformation of Adults’ Educational Composition in the Post-expansion Phase 7.1.2 Increasing Second-Generation Graduates 7.2 Attitude Toward Higher Education 7.2.1 Psychological Basis for Intergenerational Mobility 7.2.2 Previous Studies and Research Questions 7.3 Analysis 7.3.1 Data and Descriptive Features 7.3.2 Peculiarity of Young College or University Graduates 7.3.3 Multivariate Analysis (Logistic Regression) 7.4 Conclusion References 8 Effects of Regional Inequality on Political Attitudes: Social Capital and Support for Redistribution and Free Competition 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Hypotheses 8.3 Data and Methods 8.3.1 Data 8.3.2 Variables 8.3.3 Analytic Strategy 8.4 Results 8.4.1 Descriptive Statistics 8.4.2 Factor Analyses 8.4.3 Support for Redistribution 8.4.4 Support for Free Competition 8.4.5 Interaction Effects of Regional Disadvantage and Social Capital on Political Attitudes 8.4.6 Summary 8.5 Discussion and Conclusion 8.5.1 Limitations 8.5.2 Conclusion References 9 Explanation of Socioeconomic Inequality Among the Male Elderly: An Approach Based on Estimated Income History 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Socioeconomic Stratification in the Japanese Labor Market 9.3 Data and Methods 9.3.1 Methods for Estimating Income History 9.3.2 Procedure and Data 9.4 Estimating and Applying the Income Function 9.4.1 Estimating the Income Function 9.4.2 Estimating Income History 9.5 Explaining the Socioeconomic Status of the Male Elderly Using Income History 9.5.1 Socioeconomic Disparities Among the Male Elderly 9.5.2 Analysis Using the Total of Estimated Income 9.5.3 A Comparison with Models Based on Information at Specific Ages 9.6 Discussion and Conclusion References 10 Another Aspect of Social Inequality, Wealth, in a Super-Aged Society, Japan: Re-examining the Conventional Framework of Social Stratification 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Changes in Population and Household/Family5 Structure 10.2.1 Data and the Inequality Measurement 10.3 Population Aging and Changes in Income and Asset Distribution 10.4 Wealth Through Intergenerational Inheritance 10.5 Economic Well-Being of Old People Including Wealth 10.6 Conclusion References